It has been customary in the art to protect and store circular sawblades in accessible packing cases of various sorts. U.S. Pat. Nos. J. Chase, 483,991 Oct. 11, 1892; H. N. Knowlton, 1,500,136, July 8, 1924; and A. R. Segal, 2,459,460, Jan. 18, 1949 all are directed to packing cases with a blade encasing indentation about a central post location for mating through the central blade hole. H. J. Romanowski et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,231, July 5, 1966 shows a plastic display and storage casing for circular saw blades having two frictionally interfitting transparent plastic circular discs with a central hub for positioning in the sawblade hole and adapted to hang on a rod for display by a circumferentially extending hook.
Storage inside portable boxes or tool chests is provided by J. Evans, U.S. Pat. No. 2,695,210, Nov. 23, 1954 and D. E. Elson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,454, July 19, 1966. In some of this art the blades are secured by dimensioning of the storage cavities to space two opposing case members to contact both sides of a single blade of known thickness. In others fastening means such as a bolt hub for extending through the blade hole with a nut disposed on one side of the blade for clamping the sawblade against a single supporting casing surface. The Elson patent suspends the blades away from any supporting surface by means of a resiliently compressible hub member through the blade hole which is compressed by a manually operable wing nut.
All of this art fully recognizes the need to carefully handle a circular saw blade both to protect the saw from damage and in a way that does not encourage injury to persons handling the saw. Some of the art recognizes the need for safely storing the sawblade in transport. Only Romanowski et al recognizes the need for an inexpensive casing which can be used in a store for display and thereafter used by the purchaser as a protective carrying case from which the sawblade may be repeatedly taken for use after purchase.
There are however deficiencies in this art, which are resolved by the present invention, such as those now discussed. Metal saw blades in thin plastic portable casings with two or more pieces frictionally fit together can be dangerous if impacted such as by dropping because of the relatively heavy sawblade and its relatively sharp and rugged construction which can cause dislodgment. Friction fitting of two plastic discs in registration with a sawblade is also a source of potential danger. Furthermore, if one piece of a two piece casing becomes damaged or inoperable to interfit properly, or is lost, the sawblade storage problem is acute.
Because of the weight of a sawblade and the nature of conventional storage casings, it is not easily carried away from a point of purchase by a customer. If put into a conventional paper bag, it can tear the bag and fall out particularly if the bag becomes wet. Thus a storage package that is readily carried has not been made available by the prior art.
Not many of the prior art casings are adaptable to storage of more than one circular sawblade, or of sawblades of differing sizes and thicknesses. Neither are any of them of a construction that may be economically manufactured with enough quality to serve as a permanent portable carrying case for circular sawblades, providing easy access, safe and reliable storage even under rough handling, and difficult to render unusable.
This invention therefore has as its objective to provide an improved circular sawblade portable carrying case, which overcomes the problems of the prior art and affords features not heretofore available in tahe prior art.